Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

I have read several of Jean Plaidy's books and so far, this is one of the more enjoyable ones (but I have only read one of the Tudor series and one of the Queen of England series books). The Follies of the King tells the story of Edward II and his dramatic, but ineffective reign.

Having to live up to the legacy of his father, Edward I ("Longshanks") must have been intimidating, but poor Edward II just couldn't seem to do anything right and he made numerous mistakes that would later cost him not only his crown, but his life. Edward has a preference for "pretty young men" and his boyhood friend, Piers Gaveston, becomes his favorite. During the early days of Edward's reign, he heaps titles and land on Piers and even goes so far as to name him regeant when he goes to France to marry the Princess Isabella. Piers is arrogant and vain and antagonizes the barons by making fun of them and flaunting his own humble birth (as the son of a Gascon knight).

Isabella is a young beautiful girl when she marries Edward. She is smart and ambitious and quickly realizes that Edward is weak. She also quickly realizes the nature of his relationship with Piers and vows to get rid of him. It doesn't take long for her to begin thinking of the possibility of deposing Edward and replacing him with a son she hasn't had yet. She figures the best way to secure her future is to have a few children by Edward and to play the humiliated, suffering wife. It is a part she plays very well. The people, especially in London, feel sorry for her; are furious at Edward for neglecting her; and blame Piers for it all. Piers is banished several times, only to be recalled by the king.

Although the barons eventually manage to get rid of Piers by killing him, he is quickly replaced by another: Hugh Despenser (son of a baron of the same name). Like Piers, the Despensers are driven by greed and the king happily complies by giving them land and money. The barons (and the people) see a repeat of the Piers situation and are not happy. The barons (including Edward's half brothers) hatred of the Despensers grows and they begin to look to Isabella who is convinced that she is in the right with her plan to depose Edward.

Edward makes a major mistake when he decides to let Roger de Mortimer live after he is taken prisoner during a skirmish. While in the Tower, Isabella sees him and is instantly drawn to what she sees as a strong, passionate man. With Edward for a husband, you can hardly blame her! Some of their meetings read like something out of a romance novel which was slightly annoying. But maybe there would be a part of her that, being disappointed by her marriage, wanted romance and love. The Despensers begin to notice a change in Isabella and become concerned. But they are too focused on what more they can get out of the King that they fail to recognize Isabella's schemes as she gets Roger, herself and her son (who would later be Edward III) to France.

Young Edward (he is a teenager at this point) admires his mother and understands enough about his father to allow himself to be manipulated into "siding" with her, even though it makes him uneasy. Isabella manages to raise an army and when they land in England, Edward and the Despensers are captured and the Despensers executed. It is at this point that Edward realizes how little he really knew about his wife and that he should have been more concerned with her and what she was doing!

Isabella's plan doesn't work out quite as she had hoped when she is not named as part of the regency for young Edward III and mother and son begin to have doubts about each other with Edward beginning to assesrt himself and ask questions. The people also are less than happy about Isabella and Roger's relationship and many think they have traded the king and his favorite for the queen and hers.

For much of the book, I felt sorry for Isabella. It seems like she put up with a lot from Edward and her options were rather limited on how to make her situation better. She was fairly young (I think around 30) when Edward II was deposed and since she was not a weak, passive woman, she took her life into her own hands and made the best out of an intolerable situation.

Rating: 6.5/10

My daughter asked me why I have been reading only historical fiction books. Out of all of the millionn of books out there, why these? My answer of "I like them" didn't really satisfy her and after I got to thinking about it, it didn't really satisfy me either. Wouldn't I like other kinds of books?

I always enjoyed history in school and it was something I was good at as I had a knack for remembering dates, names and places. As an American, I think that we tend to forget that the world existed long before the United States of America did and that there is in fact a great big world out there on the other side of the ocean. History class focuses on US history and world history is reviewed at lightening speed with hundreds of years worth condensed to a few paragraphs.

Having outgrown the capacity and patience for memorizing historical facts, I have found that reading well researched historical fiction (often followed by a good non fiction book covering the same period) has given me an amazing amount of knowledge about the history of Europe, (mostly England). I think knowing more about the history of England is important because to a certain extent, England's history is US history.

My daughter has taken an interest in the Tudor era and has been (slowly) reading Plaidy's In the Shadow of the Crown. She had it at school one day to read after taking some tests and several of her teachers commented on her choice of reading material and were surprised that she would be reading about Mary Tudor and not one of those gossipy teenage girl books. I thought it was kind of sad that they had to make an "issue" about it. We have watched some movies (we especially liked Anne of the Thousand Days) and the PBS series on Henry's wives and talked about what we have learned about Henry VIII and his family. I told her when she gets to that part in history class that she will probably know more than the teacher does!

I think the other thing I really like about HF is that they don't necessarily follow any type of formula and people don't always live happily ever after. They are about the real life struggles of men and women with the strengths and weaknesses that make us all human. They mess up and some of them mess up big and it can't always be made right by the end of the story.

While I probably would like to read other kinds of books, for the time being, reading historical fiction keeps me focused. There are way too many books out there that I would probably like to read and if I had more choices, how would I ever choose anything? I have a hard enough time with the HF books lining my shelf!!

I decided to post some short reviews (as I have time) of books I read earlier this year. Some of them will be shorter than others since I didn't start out really jotting down what I thought of them. I'm going to start with the first book I read this year and the two other books in the trilogy by Susan Carroll: The Dark Queen, The Courtesan, and The Silver Rose. This series tells the story of three sisters who live in a small community in Brittany which has long had a history of women with the healing and mystical abilities of the old days.

The Dark Queen - Ariane is the oldest and the one who must carry on her family’s tradition of mysticism and healing as well as looking out for her 2 younger sisters. Ariane has been pursued by the comte de Renard but she has refused to marry him. Renard won’t take no for an answer and makes an intriguing proposition to Ariane involving a magical ring. The sisters quiet life is shattered when a wounded stranger arrives and Ariane takes him in to tend to his wounds. Nicholas Remy has come from Paris and is in the service of Henry of Navarre who had married the French princess Marguerite. With him, he has a pair of gloves containing some kind of poison which killed Henry's mother, Joanne of Navarre. The gloves were given to her by the bride’s mother, Catherine de Medici who has been long rumored to deal in the black arts and to use the old knowledge for evil purposes.
As Ariane tries to unlock the mystery of the gloves, she forms an unlikely alliance with Renard and the two become involved. Their relationship is stormy and passionate and Ariane soon discovers that Renard has secrets of his own related to his family and that he understands more of Ariane's ways than she realizes. They are harassed by the Queen's "Witch Hunters" which includes a young man once known to Ariane's youngest sister, Miri. But Renard (secretly) and the Queen are both after something they think Ariane has - a book containing all manners of evil spells and information.
When Remy regains his health and heads back to Paris he becomes caught up in the Nightmare of the St. Bartholomew's Eve Massacre as the Queen unleashes a evil potion and her son encourages Catholics to slaughter the Protestants in the city for the wedding. Remy is assumed to have died. Ariane and Renard both come to terms with the past and Ariane agrees to marry him.

I really enjoyed this book and was fascinated by the “old ways” referred to throughout the story as well as the way the historical people and events were intertwined with the fictional characters. I liked Ariane and couldn’t wait to find out how her relationship with Renard would develop – passionate and sexy (but not trashy). Ariane’s inner struggle with doing what was right for herself and balancing the obligation she felt towards her sisters was also well developed.
Rating: 9/10


The Courtesan - Convinced that she is not worthy to be loved, Gabrielle Cheney trades the possibility of happiness for the false appearances of the life of a courtesan to some of the most powerful men in Paris. Determined to climb higher, Gabrielle sets her sights on Henry, King of Navarre, who will potentially one day be the King of France. But first, she seeks out the mysterious, blind Cassandra who deals in the black arts and seeks to contact Remy who she believes is dead. In return, she promises Cassandra that one day, Cassandra can ask anything of her and she will comply.

Gabrielle does become Henry's mistress and eventually learns that Remy is in fact alive and seeking a way to free Henry from Catherine de Medici who has imprisoned him. As Catherine learns that Remy is intent on freeing his King, she enlists Gabrielle to seduce him and destroy his legendary persona. But with her abilities to see into people's souls, Catherine learns that Gabrielle is in fact in love with Remy. And while Catherine continues to try and see evil triumph, the band of witch hunters she set into motion become suspicious of her, led by Miri's childhood friend, Simon.

Finally the day comes when Cassandra calls in her favor - she wants to spend one night with Remy. Gabrielle can't go through with it and manages to convince Remy's servant Wolf to go in his place. Wolf is so in love with Gabrielle that he agrees to do anything for her. Once Cassandra realizes she has been tricked, she accuses Gabrielle of witchcraft and Simon comes after her. Simon admits that he is really after Renard since he thinks he has the Book of Shadows that he is trying to obtain for Catherine. Renard shows up with the book which he had obtained to try and find something that would help Ariane conceive. But Simon tricks them and doesn't let Gabrielle go. Remy comes in with a blaze of fire (literally) and they all escape and Simon discovers that the book is gone. Gabrielle finally realizes that Remy does love her and that it is OK for someone to love her.

Gabrielle’s story is a great example of not everything being as it appears. To everyone else, she appears happy and to “have it all”. But underneath, she is haunted by a single event from her past and is determined that she does not deserve to be happy. Nothing like the love of a good man to change that perception about herself. Given her history, I thought the sex scenes with Remy were important to the development of her story and her realization that passion can be a good thing.

Rating: 8.5/10

The Silver Rose - The final book in the trilogy focuses on the youngest Cheney sister, Miri. With the rest of her family in exile, Miri remains in their homeland where she is somewhat of an outcast. All around the countryside, infant boys are being left to die seemingly in sacrifice to a new force called The Silver Rose. Simon the witch hunter tries to track down who is behind it but doesn't realize that they are really after him. As he struggles to figure it out, he decides that perhaps the best way to catch a witch is to use a witch and so he seeks his old childhood friend, Miri. Miri is not sure she wants to help him, but ultimately she decides to. In their travels they discover they have a lot of buried feelings for each other, despite Miri's intentions to be with Wolf.


When a follower of the Silver Rose makes an attempt to kill Catherine de Medici, she turns to Simon as well to try and find whoever is behind it. She has heard that the Silver Rose has possession of the mysterious Book of Shadows and she wants Simon to get it for her.
Meanwhile, a young girl is holding a court of sorts with fanatical women who seem to be following a sorceress. The girl is revealed to be the Silver Rose and her mother none other than the blind Cassandra who is forcing her daughter to learn the ancient language in order to decipher the Book of Shadows. Wolf catches up with Simon and Miri and even though she tells him that she can not be with him, Wolf decides to accompany them in their search. When they finally find the Silver Rose they are shocked to learn that it is a child. Cassandra is killed and Wolf realizes that the child was conceived the night he spent with Cassandra in Nicholas Remy's place. He takes her with him and they set off to settle elsewhere and Miri asks Simon to marry her. The Book of Shadows is never recovered.

I thought this was the weakest of the three books, but still an enjoyable read. The Silver Rose being a child took me by surprise, but after a few descriptions of the “sorceress”, it’s pretty easy to figure out that it is Cassandra and once it is revealed that she is the child’s mother, it’s also an easy one to know who her father is. This one doesn’t have as many historical events or references as the others.

Rating: 8/10

I haven't had as much time to read this week as I would have liked. Not only has there been Christmas shopping to try and finish up (gotta go tonight and try to find something for my dad!) but my hubby decided to start a new project this week with the hopes of getting it done by Christmas Eve when his family comes. We are putting a bar area in our basement and here's what it looks like right now (it's a little blurry, but you get the idea). We have made endless trips to the big 3 home improvement store - Lowe's, Menards and Home Depot-to compare everything from sinks to molding and I think we have returned almost as much as we have kept. The 2 holes in the wall will be recessed niches. My hubby is a pretty handy guy, but I am having my doubts as to whether this will be done in 48 hours!

I've already told him that his next project is to build me floor to ceiling bookcases in our bedroom as I am beginning to run out of room for all my books!

Since I probably won't get much reading done between now and the end of the year, I figured it was safe to go ahead and put together my top 10 books:

10. The Borgia Bride - Jeanne Kalogridis
Fascinating book set in Italy about the Borgia's

9. The Kitchen Boy - Robert Alexander
A real page turner, especially towards the end regarding what may have really happened to the Romanovs

8. The Dark Queen - Susan Carroll
My first book to read for fun in 15 years. It must have been good to make me want to read some more. Set in France with Catherine de Medici as a central character. This is the first book in a trilogy and I thought it was the best one.

7. The Sunne in Splendor - Sharon Penman
HUGE book that provides tons of info on the War of the Roses. I grew a little weary of the battle scenes though.

6. Katherine - Anya Seton
Beautiful love story that provides background information on the Lancaster/York feud.

5. Innocent Traitor - Alison Weir
Poor Lady Jane! Her story broke my heart. Loved the multiple narrators.

4. The Boleyn Inheritance - Phillipa Gregory
Another book with multiple narrators (Anne of Cleves, Jane Rochford and Katherine Howard) telling their own stories. Loved how each one of them had their own "Boleyn inheritance" in their life and Jane Rochford's justifications to herself for her behavior. Has some great lines.

3. Here Be Dragons - Sharon Penman
A great love story about King John's illegitimate daughter Joanna and Llewleyn the Great of Wales. This one made me cry and I learned a lot about Wales as well.

2. The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory
Who would have thought learing about history could be so much fun!!

1. Kathryn in the Court of Six Queens - Anne Merton Abbey
This book is out of print, hard to find and not cheap. But it is so worth it! Interesting story line woven around all of Henry VIII's wives, lots of humor and an intriguing solution to the Princes in the Tower mystery.

I have read 48 books this year. Wow!! For someone who had not read a book for fun in about 15 years, that's a lot. I always loved to read as a kid - even in high school. I looked forward to going to the library every week and browsing through the shelves to find the perfect books to take home. I could spend hours there. During college, well, there were too many other things to do and with my English minor, I was doing enough reading anyway. Law school was nothing but reading and the thought of opening any book that I wasn't going to be tested over made my head hurt. Then came marriage, a baby and work. Who had time to read?? I think the last book I read, was on my honeymoon (in the car on the trip to Florida).

I really have to credit my husband with starting to read again. In February, for his 40th birthday he wanted to go on a family ski trip - only I don't ski. He suggested I get a good book and go curl up in the lodge in front of the fireplace and drink lattes all day. I went to the bookstore three times before I finally came out with a book (quite by accident). I actually was on my way out of the store empty-handed once again when I passed a display at the front of the store for The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll. There was something about the cover that caught my eye and it sounded interesting. So interesting, that I started reading it that night.

By the time we got to the airport to leave for Colorado, I was halfway through the book. Suddenly, I was afraid of being without a book for the rest of the trip and made a quick trip into the airport bookstore. Another display stood out - for a book about the sister of Anne Boleyn (Phillipa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl). I had heard of her before, but didn't really know much about her and who knew she had a sister who slept with the king first! When the trip was over, I had finished both books and now wanted more.

I had never heard the term "historical fiction" before, but I saw it printed on the back of TOBG. I had also always loved history and wondered if there could possibly be more books like these - fictional accounts of real people and real events that were fairly historically accurate. What a great way to learn about the past! I started searching around the internet and couldn't believe what I found - even websites dedicated to it where you could get the names of more books and one where you could "talk" to other people who liked them as well.

I was hooked and have learned so much about the history of Europe, especially England, and find it fascinating. I have since found my way to several book forums, blogs and informative websites, not to mention ebay, Amazon.com and bookcloseouts.com (they know my credit card very well). Since I now work from home, I really enjoy "talking" to other people about books and stuff and I refer to them as my "book friends" (my daughter finds that funny!).

So, to all my book friends, thank you for sharing your thoughts and recommendations with me. I look forward to our continued friendship.